


Fairy Stories

by Starofwinter



Series: Wild Hunt au [3]
Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fae, Alternate Universe - Magic, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 02:26:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15698223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starofwinter/pseuds/Starofwinter
Summary: Through the forest runs a stream; the stories say it leads to the Fae.  The stories are true.





	Fairy Stories

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kristsune](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kristsune/gifts).



The stream is old, older than the nearby town, older than the forest it runs through, almost older than the land itself.  There are rumors that if you follow it long enough, it will lead you to the fae, but hardly anyone listens to those silly old stories anymore.  A few do, for better or for worse. Either they stay far from the sparkling, laughing stream as it bounces down its rocky path, or they follow it, curious about how true the tales are.  The more adventurous ones never come back.

The ones who do come back are not the same people as they were when they left.  They look older, stranger,  _ changed _ .  They see things no one else can, they  _ hear _ things no one else does, and inevitably, they walk back into the forest one day without a word, never to return.

If they do talk about that bright stream, it’s to say this: the water is too bright, too sparkling, to belong to the mortal world.  Its water is clear and fresh and sweet, but drinking from it comes at a price. If you follow it for too long, you come to a pool, just as sparkling and clear, clear enough to see the bottom, where fish dart from rock to rock.  A man, more beautiful than any human - sometimes slender, with hair bright and silver as starlight, sometimes muscular and covered in blooming roses, sometimes small and lean, with raven-dark hair and a brilliant smile - lounges on a rock in the middle of the pool, naked and holding out an inviting hand.  Anyone fool enough to venture further finds themselves in the cool, refreshing water, feeling younger than they have in years. 

Eventually, the shapes of the rocks beneath them come into focus.  Strangely shaped skeletons lie at the bottom of the pool, and they sparkle with riches, kept safe by the water.  Those whose curiosity hasn’t been sated by their discoveries, or whose greed outweighs their sense, are urged on by their beautiful playmate’s laughter and teasing to dive down and bring back a treasure as a gift, a reward, a favor’s promise.  Those who listen might hear the stream’s laughter in the fae’s.

If the temptation is too great, and they dive down to retrieve one of those glittering treasures, they find themselves swimming deeper and deeper, the skeletons growing larger and more misshapen, the light of the surface beginning to fade, though the water remains clear as ever, showing the hoard waiting for them if they only swim a little further.  Some turn back, and they bring their stories with them, but far more keep swimming down, never to be seen again.

Those who come back say they can still hear the laughter in the stream, and the voice of the fae, calling them back.


End file.
